Summons Review

Summons A Supernatural Fight Of Good VS. Evil

I’ve been super busy with life and everything that comes along with it, but I have also been on my game with the reviews.  So far for the last month or so I have put up something at least once a week and I hope to continue my trend.  I recently went back over my body of work and noticed that I was leaning heavy towards sci fi stuff from more known companies and thought maybe it would be a good idea to revisit something different and from the more indie labels.  I decide to do a review on Summons because I’m completely blown away by this books art as well as the general premise of the story.

Summons is; written, penciled, and lettered by Chris L. Williams, inked by Jake Isenberg, and colored by both Danielle Alexis St. Pierre (cover) and Victor Bartlett (Interior) and I have to hand it to them because I feel like this art is spectacular.  The cover features two of the main characters, Kristine Helios and the last agent of a group known as the M.E.G.A.S (mystic event gatherer and surveyor).  I understand that that may not mean much now but as I get into the review know that it will be clarified, just keep in mind that both characters are seriously BA and the cover features Kristine kneeling down with a dagger in her hand and some dragon/dog looking monsters behind her with the MEGAS guy behind her.  The MEGAS agent looks almost like Deadpool meets Emperor Palpatine, and I only say that because of his red and blue mask with blue and red trimmed cloak.  Both characters have glowing eyes and fierce looks to them that are only accentuated by the monsters around Kristine.  I made it the featured image on the left over here so you can get a real feel for what I'm describing.

The book begins with a four page panel that starts at Kristine’s eyes and pulls further out to reveal her standing in a half circle of troll looking monsters.  Again I have to say, the art is on point in every way, Kristine’s eyes are fierce like she is angry and ready to take care of business.  She provides some commentary about what it was like before the real world revealed itself but overall the first page is a simple but BA introduction to Kristine and her current struggles as someone that knows about and deals with supernatural things.  Page two is a continuance of the first page but it’s a five panel ass kicking that show cases Kristine’s abilities and ends on the next page with a killer profile of her holding a monsters head.  I enjoy the fight scene and the profile of Kristine but as a writer I really enjoy the way they put the exposition in as Kristine’s thoughts and explanations of the monsters.  I have mentioned before in previous reviews that one of my pet peeves is being thrown into a complicated world with complicated back stories and just being expected to know what is going on.  Williams gives a great explanation of what the creatures are and why their stalking her down.  The exposition is done well and sets up the premise of the book, Kristine is meant to get back the book of Summons.  The explanation is enough to get a good taste as to what she is facing and what she is seeking out but it doesn't over share and leaves something for us to discover as the book goes on.  The exposition continues with the profile page and Kristine explains her “edge” when dealing with these creatures called Monstrum.  Along with her dagger made for spear of destiny parts she has a “death rapport” that links her thoughts with the Monstrum she kills.  The death rapport doesn't yield anything good so Kristine is forced to summons her MEGAS buddy and we are lead to the next page where he is front and center but flanked by four panels of Kristine and one close up of his masked face.  I simply can’t say enough about the art, the MEGAS dude looks formidable and BA as the two of them chat about what transpired.  The exposition continues alongside an explanation of the MEGAS and what their all about.  Her new MEGAS buddy was “the 5^th, sans a blonde Bruce Willis and half naked Milla Jovovich” and I have to say that I love the 5^th Element reference.





So within the first four pages we are introduced to the two main characters, shown a nice fight sequence, and given a reasonable amount of exposition so we understand what is going on in Kristine’s world.  For me personally this book does what I expect from anything that has a complex world building around the reader; I need to know something, but not everything, I need to get a feel for the characters and their abilities, but not be overwhelmed by it.  Williams has already drawn me in and I’m hardly four pages into the read.  I definitely feel that the art helps me get drawn in but the story line has me as well.  The search for the book of Summons, the history of the MEGAS, and what sort of evil they face are all inventive and have me hooked.  The main characters are cool and heroic but not of the super hero ilk, more of the Constantine type, as is the world that is being set up.



After the beginning and the character introduction there is a short synopsis of how Williams describes his story.  I don’t normally quote things but I feel like his words are fairly poetic, and as a writer I enjoy these lines.

“Nothing meek shall inherit the Earth.  Humans are simply spectators.  Glorified animals caged by their own perception.  The real struggle, the real war… is fought by far greater beings.  They decide our fate, our purpose.  Everything depends on them.  Always has.  This is their story.  Their struggle.  And it is only the beginning.”

I know, epic... Right?  I really dig the way this feels and rolls off my tongue as I mouth it to myself.  After the first few pages and the realization of the mission and the book of summons this statement only beefs up the hype of the book and totally riles me up.

I have already been hooked with the art and the story of the first few pages but as I turn to the next page I see a “Chapter 1 Rude Awakening” and realize that the story has hardly started.  Kristine is clearly a late teen early twenty something, judging from the art, but as the story begins Williams reveals her true age while she narrates how awful school is.  I’m a man in my thirty’s but her clear contempt for school rings a bell with me, as does the three page narrative of Kristine thought bubbling her worries about college while trying to ignore the “self-absorbed, vapid, pima-donnas.”  I love this part because I have more than a few bad memories of self-absorbed A-holes in high school, as many comic book fans probably do, and Williams not only captures the essence of what many people deal with he does it while showing that Kristine is no push over.  Kristine has proven to be BA, but now we get a glimpse of her as a normal person dealing with normal people problems as well when she blows up at the girls talking trash.

Williams continues with Kristine making her way to the principal’s office when she stumbles upon the big football star that just happens to be her good buddy from childhood.  The banter between the two of them is natural, but flirty, and revealing of the true nature of their friendship.  Through dialog Williams shows us the nature of the relationship while also possibly foreshadowing some key plot points.  Football star Jared Lee reveals that his cousin has just died and was possibly into some shady things, which at first doesn’t sound very revealing but the art work really puts it into perspective with a close up of Jared’s face but behind him is a cloaked guy getting attacked by a hand that looks awfully menacing, like some of the monstrum from the beginning.



Williams shifts the book to three shadowy figures arguing about when to strike at Kristine and the mortal world but he leaves the dialog open until the next page when I turned and saw the up close of three shadowy monsters.  They argue when to strike and the shot caller declares that they wait until they find the book.  The art of the monsters is something to behold because their scary and mean as hell, with some of the best coloring I have ever seen.  The crew really out do themselves on this page, truly amazing art work.

The next seven pages are Kristine at home getting ready for bed when a monster attacks her by jumping through her window.  At this point we know that she doesn’t die and with the help of the MEGAS becomes pretty BA and this revelation comes to fruition when the MEGAS shows up to dispatch the Monstrum.  Again the art work is fantastic with the MEGAS and the monster fighting, my favorite being the first panel with MEGAS standing over the monster.  The panel is about three fourths of the MEGAS standing in front of a head shot of the monster.  The panel is colorful and gives a really nice profile of the MEGAS while still showing a scary version of the mostrum’s head up close.  The Monstrum has some really detailed features, including nasty teeth and a long gross tongue, everything a true monster should have.  As the MEGAS kills off the monster he screams “all hail Zombinos,” which is a nice piece of foreshadowing because I wonder if one of the shadowy monsters are Zombino or if he is going to be someone higher up the monster chain, but either way I’m excited to see Kristine and the MEGAS do their thing and kill them all.



MEGAS stops to holds a passed out Kristine and apologizes for his barging into her room to save her and explains the MEGAS formation.  Within the explanation of the MEGAS is also the explanation of how the book of Summons came about, as well as who Kristine is.  Kristine is somehow an intermediate between the forces of good or evil and the book.  MEGAS explains she is the newest of a long line of ancestors that held her powers and between him, her and another unknown person called “the warrior born” they have the potential to save the world.  The MEGAS explains that both her and the warrior born have the potential to be swayed to the bad side so it’s imperative that they start their quest to save the world and find the warrior born.

I was expecting this to be the end of the book but I turned to find one last page of a man running in the moonlight.  The final page is six panels of this man and a narrative of how he finally understood the MEGAS and the fight he was about to enter into.  He knew, all of a sudden, that he is essential to the never ending fight as well as the fact that they needed to get to the book of Summons.



I hate to keep gushing over the art, but seriously, it’s good.  All of the characters have a unique feel to them, no two are even remotely similar, except when supposed to be, and even then are done very different.  The Monstrum are the closest thing to similar in the book and their very different in their own ways.  The style of the art is something between cartoon and realistic and the colors are bright and popping.  Williams doesn’t slack on the story either, he clearly has an extensive world he is building but doesn’t bombard us with too much, he gives us exposition when needed and slides explanations into dialog to give it a natural feel.  I like the story and clearly the artwork but I have already read issue two and can’t wait for issue three.  This is the kind of indie book that makes me shake my head at the big two and ask them why they can’t be this BA.  Williams, Isenberg, Bartlett, St. Pierre; you guys deserve a firm handshake, a pat on the back, and more than anything you deserve to sell out of this book.

Ninjak Review

Ninjak, Valiant's BA Ninja!

I pretty much love doing reviews and I have done a ton of stuff from publishers like Image and Boom! but I have yet to do anything from Valiant.  Until now! I felt like now would be a good time to talk about a Valiant book because; A) I haven’t done a Valiant book yet, B) they have some really cool properties that are pretty old but have also been redone, and C) they just signed a huge contract of movie rights.  DMG Entertainment signed a deal worth nine figures with Valiant for the movie rights to a few characters and if they play their cards right they could end up with a seriously good cinematic universe like the big two, particularly Marvel.

The book I chose for my first review is Ninjak.  I admitted already that Valiant has some BA characters and books like Bloodshot, Shadowman, Quantum and Woody, Archer and Armstrong, X-O Manowar, and many others, but I went with Ninjak for two reasons; it was the first issue, and I enjoyed it.  As many of you know I’m not about bashing books so my personal enjoyment is a major factor in the decision to do a review and I can say for sure that I enjoyed Ninjak.



The book starts with a fun little classified specification on Ninjak’s “Multi-Tool Battle Belt” so we get a nice little preview of the type of weaponry to expect and they package it up in a top secret style page which is fitting considering he is a M.I. 6 agent.  Although the tool belt is cool we all know the book isn’t starting there, it actually starts with a five panel page of a blind folded ninja fighting a bunch of other ninja’s while Cranes fly all around them.  I liked the start but it was just a tease because the second page is three panels of a child eating popcorn and watching a movie.  The only thing the page says is “Then” at the bottom and it quickly shifts to “Now” as they give us some exposition on Ninjak’s mission.

So within three short pages Ninjak draws us into a back story and kicks us in the face with a scary mission briefing of a super BA target named Roku.  Ninjak’s target, Roku, is killing a Russian prison guard that is trying to hold her in a custom made prison but the exposition is what is scary; she can either feel no pain or she likes it, and she has had “Genetic tailoring” so her hair can cut through metal and she can strangle a man with only three strands.  Yeah pretty BA if you ask me, but we all know that Ninjak isn’t going to be a push over himself.  All in all the exposition about Roku is three pages of her taking care of Russian prison guards but it all leads up to a killer one page shot of Ninjak holding his sword while he quotes a line from the movie he was watching earlier.  Told you, he wasn't going to be a push over.



Ninjak asked her if he was supposed to be impressed and true to the game Roku says “who cares” as she grabs a gun to attack Ninjak.  There are nearly three entire pages of fighting before they pick up the dialog and Ninjak clicks an explosive trigger.  A bomb goes off behind Roku and she is dazed but Ninjak just tells her to stop and he lets her go.  At that point I was wondering why he decided to let her go but he goes on to tell Roku he saved her life because she was going to hack into their system and trigger a nuke.  I guess maybe he did it to save them both but someone in his ear piece tells him to clean up before he blows up the base he rescued her from.  Of course the blast is formidable but what really impressed me was the fact that he gets into a stealth bomber looking plane to get away.  At this point I’m starting to draw comparisons to Batman; the Ninja like persona and the super cool belt, and now a BA plane.

[caption id="attachment_1294" align="alignnone" width="323"] Roku[/caption]



After his mission in Russia and saving Roku the story flashes back to his childhood movie time and they reveal he lives in a castle with parents that could care less what he does with himself, probably has an Alfred and everything.  I’m more than convinced he is the clone of all BA characters like Bruce Wayne and James Bond, possible some other cool British characters, we will see.

The next page Ninjak gets debriefed at home and they show an aerial of Ninjak’s castle, and I have to say it is pretty stellar, certainly comparable to Wayne Manor.  Ninjak gets debriefed on his new assignment but just before it’s revealed what he is going to be up to next it’s revealed that Ninjak's name is Ninjak because he is actually Ninja K.  Makes sense to me, but I sort of thought it was because his name was Jack, more like Nin Jack, but it was nice to get some clarification.

During the debriefing it starts to get very spy like with the verbiage and new assignment to infiltrate a weapons maker and dealer.  We also learn that his in is because he financed the release of Roku, his right hand woman.  So all in all he has to get in and befriend a billionaire named Kannon, infiltrate his organization, and find out who the other seven leaders of a group named the Shadow Seven are.  No problem, right?  Well it seems pretty cake when he ends up singing karaoke with the guy.   I enjoy the way the book has been flowing as far as the "now" portion.  The way they transition and fit in the Roku mission with his new mission is done well, it provides clarification without being overt in a subtle but effective way.

I’m sure that things get crazy later but for now things flash back to when he is a child and is sneaking into his room but he gets caught by some big guy with a mustache.  At this point the only thing I don’t really dig is the short flashback story line.  I wish the flashback was more than a page here and there between the “now” parts, but I can see the back story setting up for something bigger or at least painting the picture as to why a little rich boy would want to become a ninja.



As the “now” part rolls on my hunch about things getting crazy with Kannon were right, they strip him and naked and drop him five miles outside of Tokyo expecting him to make it to an appointment at eight.  Ninjak is a ninja so of course he makes it on time but the next test had to be hard for Ninjak; he has to take a beating.  As a ninja I assume it would be hard to fight off the urge to kill all of them, but he does it with no problem.

The books main story line comes to an end with a “then” where he gets a whooping by the big guy with a mustache and a “now” where he earns the trust of Kannon and is granted anything he wants.  Ninjak asks him for a stealth jet outfitted with top secret nano-tech and chemical weapons payloads.  There is a small back story bonus at the end that chronicles a job ten years ago where he gets his butt kicked but it’s just a bonus to the actual story.

I certainly want to know more, that hook was way too good, and the questions I want to know are from both the then and now story lines.  I like the dual approach to the story line though they could do more with the then part.  There could be more, sure, but I’m still interested and still hooked.  I love the now part because it has everything a spy thriller fan could ask for, government agents up to and including Ninjak, bad guys and bad guy organizations, and other BA villainous people like Roku.  Ninjak hits on all cylinders and I’m glad I picked it for my first Valiant book.  I will definitely be checking out book two.

 

 

Female's in Comics

A Discussion About Female's And Misogyny In Comics

I feel that recently there has been a certain segment of the feminist population that have become outspoken about misogyny in comic books and I feel that some of their complaints are justified, but I also feel that some are not.  A lot of the complaints are directed at the big two companies and characters like Power Girl, Starfire, or even Wonder Woman and their dress, as well as a general need for more woman/girls in comics.  I understand the want for characters that are not hyper sexualized and drawn with outrageous anatomies but I like to point out that the big two also have a rich history of crossover and addition of female characters.  DC has one of the most iconic super heroes of all time and I feel like Wonder Woman has been a positive character since the 1940’s, not to mention the many different, six to be exact, Batgirl’s.  It’s not just super heroes, anti-heroes like Catwoman, and straight up villains like Harley Quinn are a staple of DC as well.  I understand the idea of dressing them different and not making them hyper sexualized, but I feel like skimming over the fact that these characters are mostly empowering is not doing them justice.  Both of the big two have some amazing characters and some of them have amazing histories, not just in comics but as back stories as well.

As far as DC is concerned I think that Starfire is under the most scrutiny, or under the most fire, pun intended.  Princess Koriand’r, or Starfire, is most recently a part of Redhood and the Outlaws in the New 52 but she was created in 1980 and has been part of other teams like Teen Titan’s so there is plenty of history, not all of it overly sexual.  I understand that she is often portrayed in a fairly sexual manner with little clothes but by focusing on only this detail we have been sort of unfair to her history and depth as a character.  I just don’t feel that a panel or two of her in a sexy swimsuit takes away from the rich history of her people the Tamaran or the world she comes from.  Not all men that read comic books stop at the pictures, many of us can see past the sexualizing art, and we appreciate Starfire as a really amazing character.  There are times in the series that Jason Todd or Roy Harper are standing shirtless, all buffed out and sexy, but I have never heard anyone complain about that, and I feel that is because the story continues to grip the imagination and people can see through the panel and frame it with the overall story line.

[caption id="attachment_1273" align="alignnone" width="640"] Jason Todd and Starfire[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1274" align="alignnone" width="247"] Starfire[/caption]

DC has made some strides towards comic book equality; the New 52 reboot has redone some of the staple characters like Batgirl, Batwoman, Catwoman, and recently added some new books like Gotham Academy featuring a teenage girl as the protagonist.  Even Harley Quinn got her own book, and if anyone wants to question the BA status of any of these characters then I implore them to read Suicide Squad and make an argument that Amanda Waller isn’t one of the most BA woman in comics today.  DC has heard the voices in demand of new female roles and heroes and believe me their creative wheels have been turning.  I feel that some of the ventures into female led comics have been dismissed because they were not successful.  Let us not forget a little book called The Movement that featured four teenage girls and two teenage boys as the team and also featured one of the girls as team leader.  It ran for a year but was cancelled after only twelve issues.

[caption id="attachment_1275" align="alignnone" width="640"] Virtue is team leader[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1276" align="alignnone" width="672"] Gotham Academy[/caption]

As far as the big two companies I like what Marvel has been doing the most.  Not to take away from DC but Marvel has really stepped up their game in the attempt to kill stereotypes in comic books; in fact, they have done such a good job it’s hard to know where to start.  I feel like one of the most important things is the success of the female Thor character.  According to the BBC, and every other news organization, the female Thor books have out sold the male books over shooting a lot of people’s expectations and silencing the critics of the change.  I certainly don’t mind the change but I also don’t dismiss the critics that ask why they had to take a male character and make it female.  I see it from both sides, but I don’t understand the hate over it.  As much as it doesn’t bother me they changed Thor I have to wonder why they didn’t just make a new female character that was different, but the feminization of an already existing character is nothing new so the critics should realize that as well.  I think the biggest difference is the lack of misogynistic hate that exudes from a lot of the female Thor critics, I have no malice in my heart over it, and I just feel that the need for female characters is better served with new and refreshing characters versus reinventing male characters.



Even though I feel new characters is a good idea I like the crossover and world building stuff that Marvel has been doing with the Spider-verse, it’s reminiscent of Batman and the variations of Batgirl.  Through the Spider-verse story line Marvel has been able to introduce some really killer female characters like Silk, Spider Gwen, and Mayday Parker.  Instead of reinventing Spiderman they took the idea and built on it.  In my opinion having Peter Parker lead a bunch of other spider people doesn’t dilute the Spiderman name like changing the characters sex does.  The preservation of the original is what has people like me upset, but it’s also the reason I would like to see new female characters.  I feel that the Spider-verse alternative is done very well because the other spider people are similar enough to get the Spiderman feel but it doesn’t dilute Peter Parker at all, Peter’s legacy as Spiderman is only enhanced by Miles Morales, Gwen Stacy, and all the other Spider-verse people and instead of shifting the emphasis they share it.  All the Spider-verse people are comparable to Peter and they can have their own books, best of both worlds, just like the Batman/Batgirl dynamic.



There have been plenty of times that I have seen a male character with an outrageously good body that was needlessly shirtless and ripped like a Greek god.  I feel that the big difference may very well be that I don’t care and that sight doesn’t draw out any negative emotions in me.  I’m certainly not trying to tell anyone how to feel or think about an issue, I’m simply drawing a conclusion that may or may not be correct.  For me, personally, I never thought about the issue of dress with female super heroes until I saw a few articles and videos on the matter, but touche to the people that noticed and wanted a change because I can see clear changes that have happened and I can see even more changes coming down the pipe.



Not saying that people are wrong to feel the way they feel and I’m not attacking people for feeling the way they do, but I would like to see some recognition for the good things going on within DC and Marvel.  They have made a concerting effort to do better and be better; I think that deserves at the least a golf clap of recognition.  I also feel that anyone yearning for more female protagonists should check out more indie books because there is no shortfall in female protagonists in indie books.  I have done reviews on a lot of stuff and a ruling majority has had either main female protagonists or at the least have had secondary female characters.  The Empty, Cluster, Magdalena The Seventh Sacrament, and Pregnant Bitches of War are all reviews I have done and they all have female protagonists; and everything else I have reviewed has at least a female character if not a strong supporting female protagonist.  If the success of the new Thor or the demise of The Movement has taught us anything it’s that comic book consumers care about one thing and one thing only… quality.  I feel like the best thing to do is to buy the books that feature great female characters and spread the word so others buy it too, that way creators can continue with their visions and let the market climate decide if they keep going, because as much as consumers like quality creator companies like money.  If an artist team has a hit like the new Thor it will show, and if not it will go the way of The Movement.

 

Theodicy Review

A Religious Adventure That Explores Theodicy

Everyone knows and I have been unabashed about my love for nearly everything sci fi, but few of you know I have another weakness… religion.  So far I have only been able to find one really good religious comic book to talk about and ironically enough I posted that last Christmas.  Even though Theodicy is religious it has nothing in common with The Magdalena The Seventh Sacrament, my last review of a religious nature.

Theodicy is available at Indyplanet and comixology, but you can also read about it at their blog and link to it yourself.  Theodicy is written by Chad Handley, penciled by Fernando Brazuna, inked by Ryan Boltz, colors by Minan Ghibliest, and lettered by Kel Nutall.  The art is done very well and it works well for the sort of book it is.  With the nature of this book Nutall gets a workout, it’s a very word heavy book that focuses a lot on the story and dialog of characters versus the visual story telling that we see a lot with comics, and I’m good with this.  I truly feel that comics are one of the greatest mediums, some comics tell a great story without a character saying a word and sometimes the book becomes in depth and more involved in the dialog.  Guess which one Theodicy is.

According to Merriam-Webster theodicy is, “Defense of God’s goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil” and yes I did have to Google it.  I feel like this is an amazing title because everyone, whether they know it or not, struggles with the thought of theodicy, and most people base their belief or disbelief on their interpretation of theodicy, characters in this book included.

The cover gets straight to the point of evil in this world as it features a young boy with his arms and legs cut off.  The image sets the tone well before it starts with the story.  Theodicy starts off with a man named Paul unloading some pretty hardcore atheist arguments to what turns out to be his future parent in laws.  Of course the fiancé doesn’t take kindly to his smug, arrogant, and rude speech and gives him back his ring as she tells him he needs to find something or someone and let it all out.  After reading his diatribe I was leaning towards agreement with his fiancé because it was pretty smug, especially because he did it at a nice dinner with the future in laws.

After the first few pages of Paul and his fiancé Theodicy turns to a second story where a catholic priest named John, his Monseigneur, and an attorney argue a contract that requires a young woman to leave the priests care and turn herself into her debtor.  Father John argues vehemently for the poor girl but in the end he loses.  Father John has already described the institution the girl is going to as some sort of horrible brothel where the girls are drugged and used up and that thought is only reinforced when a military looking force shows up to take her away.



During these panels with Father John I can tell that he is being faced with doubt but another priest tries to remind him that he is a good guy and has done everything he can do but Father John points to the boy with no arms or legs as a sign of his doubt.  I feel like this exchange sums up the ideas behind this book, a poor little child that has never done anything to anyone and deserves so much more as he lays helpless with no limbs, and how can God let something like that happen?  What could this child possibly done to deserve such a fate?  Why won’t God do something?  And probably most important to this book, how can anyone believe in a God that allows such things to happen?

I believe the struggle of how God can let bad things happen is what keeps the man Paul an atheist but because of his exchange with the parent in laws and the loss of his fiancé he is compelled to attend a church service.  Paul at church is only one page with six panels but the artists involved do an amazing job at showing his skepticism about religion through body language and facial expressions as he sits and watches a baptism.  It’s a quick page but it’s also powerful and meaningful to the story.

After Paul and the baptism the story shifts back to Father John as he does some magic for some kids and talks to a woman named Kate that appears to be a nurse or a doctor.  They talk about the magic trick and Kate tells him that their MRI machine is acting up.  Father John seems to be a jack of all trades because he agrees to look at it again, hinting that it has been on the fritz before, but also through dialog they reveal that Father John is somewhat of a mystery to Kate because she asks how a father could fix an MRI let alone build one.  The more I see Father John the more I like him and I feel like I could be a Catholic if everyone in the church was as caring as he seems to be.

Father John and Kate make their way to the conference room to meet with the Monseigneur, another priest, and a little boy.  They discuss the boy and through dialog it’s hinted that the boy is at the center of some sort of healing miracles.  They talk about him being healthy other than losing his voice but apparently they have no explanation of how a few of the people near him miraculously came out of a coma and went into cancer remission.  Father John doesn’t think he is a miracle worker, he says he just doesn’t believe the kid is special in anyway.  Father John is clearly starting to lose faith and become disillusioned by the thought of a God that can allow so much misery.  I understand the feeling of being overwhelmed and under qualified to deal with so much and I feel like mentally Father John is losing the faith.



Father John leaves the meeting and goes to prepare for a mass where the young boy with no limbs comes to receive the Eucharist from Father John.  The boy’s mother brings him in with a wheel borrow and the entire church stares in wonder while the boy comes in.  Father John losses it a little bit and makes a small speech about “Just what kind of God you serve” and walks out.  Even though Father John leaves the woman and her child are more than happy to have been there.  I love the contrast between the believers, non-believers, and people like Father John who seem to be somewhere between.  I truly believe that faith is a never ending struggle and this is portrayed perfectly.

Hours after Mass Father John gets a visit in his invention room by the other Father that brought the kid with no limbs and the two fathers have a conversation about Father John harboring his doubts.  Father John is an inventor and a practical guy so when he sees practical issues he has a problem with all of the impractical suffering.  I understand and I see where the ideas of a godless world meets the thought of so much suffering but I struggle with Father John losing his faith, I never like to see the good guys get disillusioned to the point that they stop trying.

The story flashes back to Paul as he sits in the church getting ready for a showdown with God.  I actually do this all the time, I just call it prayer, but Paul is on another level with his lack of faith in any God let alone Jesus or the Christian God.  Paul’s rants to God is not by any means unfounded, he reveals his upbringing that was heavily Christian, he speaks of a brutal way of losing his parents, and has an all-around good reasons for being bitter and unbelieving, but before he can finish his rant he looks down to notice that he is standing on water.  Of course the second he notices this small miracle he falls into the water only to pop up with a look of amazement on his face.  I feel like Paul needed that moment with God for him to realize that he is bitter about some things in his life and come to terms with it.  In my eyes the root of most disbelief, at least with atheists like Paul, stems from personal loss and personal examples of suffering and pain.  I don’t blame people and the argument is fairly solid but people like Paul don’t account for the free will of man.  Naturally man’s heart is not pure and free will causes pain.  Paul is mad that God didn’t keep the Garden of Eden as the blueprint for the world, and I get that, especially when he lost his parents so brutally.

Handley leaves us with Father John being woken up by an alarm and scrambling to get people inside the gates to avoid a raid by collection agents like the ones in the beginning that came for the girl.  Although he expected collection agents there were none; he ran out to find the limbless boy standing with limbs next to his mother, and the mute child that heals people.  I enjoyed the book and I feel like this hook is inescapable, it just leaves way too many questions.  Is God real?  Does Paul convert?  Is the healing mute child a gift from God?  Are any of the things that happened real?  What is going to happen to Father John?  Just after the final panel there is a wonderful little synopsis that has a definition of theodicy so you don’t have to Google it like I did, but it also has a synopsis of what the crew attempted to accomplish by writing this.  They focus on Paul the atheist and Father John as they deal with people like the mute boy and form an unlikely alliance.

I was impressed mostly by the thoughtful and intense dialog but please don’t think that because it’s word heavy that the illustrations lose out in anyway because they don’t.  The book is an all-around success and it takes on a very serious issue from both sides and with class, that can be hard to do and they certainly pull it off.  I’m glad that someone out there had the wherewithal and courage to tackle such a controversial topic, and they did it from both sides, which only adds to the appeal.

The Empty Review

The Empty from Image Comics

The New Year has been super busy and has brought a lot of new time consuming things to my life, but I promise I’m coming back with a vengeance.  I have a ton of new comic books I want to talk about and because issue two is on its way I want to start with The Empty.

The Empty is an Image release and is mostly a one man show; Jimmie Robinson created, writes, illustrates, letters, and colors this book.  Laura Tavishati edits, Marc Lombardi does communications, and Jim Valentino handles complaints.  There are special thanks to Gail Follansbee but it doesn’t specify why.  Robinson does a great job with the illustrations, I feel like it has a special style to it, almost an anime feel to some of the characters while others have a realistic look.  The colors are bright for the most part and when the different style characters are on the same panel they fit well and nothing seems out of place like he was trying to merge two styles and didn’t hit the mark.  He doesn’t just hit the mark; he hits a bull’s eye.

The story starts with a sky shot of a lush place with beautiful farm land and clear looking buildings.  Inside one of the buildings four people with long necks plot the death of someone named Lila.  The people have long necks and sort of Roman style clothes on; they remind me somewhat of Avatar people, but not blue, just gangly looking.  These are the characters that are somewhat anime style as well.  I say they look anime style because they have large eyes, but other than that and the long necks they look like normal people.  These animations are done really well and give the people a unique look without singling them out from the rest of the characters.



 

After the first page set up the book switches to a different story line leaving us wondering about the first page.  Robinson sets up a new world that is barren desert looking land and introduces us to the main character, Tanoor.  As the new story line picks up the dynamic of Tanoor’s world starts to unfold and it quickly becomes clear that her world is not easy.  Tanoor’s world is dying from a root that poisons everything but she is the only one that wants to search for new lands.  She gets push-back from the merchant that employs her to hunt as well as from the village elder that thinks he knows better.  Before they stop arguing Tanoor see’s something floating in the water near their village.  Tanoor goes to see what the floating thing is and she discovers one of the long necked people.  The second I see the long necked person I start to wonder if she is the one that was a target from the first panel conversation and sure enough through dialog between her and Tanoor we find out that she is in fact named Lila.

The village elder pushes back at every instance while Tanoor and Lila talk about where Lila comes from.  After hearing about Lila's life Tanoor spends most her time tries to figure out how to get to Lila’s plush land.  Tanoor seems to be the only one that knows the empty is empty and worthless but while Tanoor and Lila talk and figure things out Lila stumbles upon a bracelet she thought she lost.  Her bracelet brings back memories and she says that her people threw her away.  Because of her statement there and another one before about the sun not being right I start to think that maybe her land is above them and the roots that poison everything are what make their land so plush, but we will have to wait and see if my theory holds water.

Lila flashes back as she tells Tanoor about her world.  It becomes clear that her people are kept in the dark about the possibility of the empty having people but none of them question it because life is good for them and they have their own version of village elders called the blessed.  Lila tells Tanoor that the blessed supposedly have seen the world created and I have a feeling that has to do with the roots, but again, we will see.  Lila continues and tells about her love, Dakom, who seems to be the same guy plotting her demise in the first panel.  Dakom had her meet him by the sea where she was surrounded by guardsmen and can’t remember anything after that.  Because of this I wonder if maybe my theory is incorrect and Lila’s land is actually just across the sea, but either way I feel like her people are going to be responsible for the poisonous roots.

After Lila’s flashback the elder guy comes back to try and kick them both out of the town and pushes Lila into a dying tree.  Lila getting pushed into the tree didn’t surprise me, but when the lost bracelet she is wearing hits the tree and it all of a sudden sprouts fruit and becomes plush I was very surprised.  Everyone was surprised and wanted her to heal as much as possible, except of course the village elder guy that wanted kill them both.  I keep wondering why this is so intent on sabotaging Lila’s discovery and now her help with the land and I think it’s either one of two things; he is just plain ignorant, or he has something to do with the Lila’s people.



Tanoor is no fool so she facilitates Lila's help and decides that heading to the roots and destroying the biggest problem is going to be the best bet.  At this point the elder follows them to a large bridge separating their town from the roots and cuts the bridge, leaving them stranded.  The book ends really well with Tanoor and Lila facing about a dozen things called Mool’s.  Mool’s are like roided out bunnies and monkey crosses with seriously menacing teeth and floppy ears.  We already know that Tanoor is a great hunter and I have a feeling that Lila can take care of herself as well so I’m excited for issue two.

I feel like my sci fi bias is showing somewhat because I can’t help it, but this book is done really well regardless of my bias for sci fi.  The colors and people are bright and pop with a lightness to them that is pleasing to the eye, the characters development and the world development is done very well while still leaving something for issue two.  I certainly want to see what happens to the Empty as Lila and Tanoor try to save the land and the people, and I’m more than curious about her husband that tried to have her killed.  I will be checking out issue two for sure and luckily I procrastinated long enough on this review the new issue is coming out March 25^th along with some other Image releases.

 

The Best Comic I Read Today Is ... The Dying & The Dead #1

Hickman and Bodenheim Reunite for The Dying & The Dead

Two quick disclaimers before we get into it: 1) Much love and thanks goes to former NerdBinge columnist Derek Adnams who started "The Best Comic I Read Today Is..." articles and who so graciously allowed me to keep it going here. Derek has since retired from NerdBinge in order to spend more time with his family, his work, and somehow in between all that, writing more comic books. 2) I'm a little behind the 8-ball on this one as I'm reading the second printing of The Dying & The Dead, but after James Gunn recommended it on his Facebook page, I had to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised to find it on the racks with all the new stuff at my LCBS today, and, well, as you might have gathered already, it was certainly the best comic book I've read today.

Now, on to the review.

Jonathan Hickman is nearing legendary status in the comic book scene these days. He has basically dictated the next phase of Marvel comics after 70+ years of continuity with his MASSIVE run on Avengers and New Avengers leading into Secret Wars.  It's easy to tire of the big events and crossovers of the Big 2, so this new, original comic got me excited. To match that, Issue #1 is a beast of a book, 60 pages in total. The colors of Michael Garland are exquisite and a bold artistic choice, taking the color immersion trend into poetic territory. And yet, with all that praise, you CAN NOT understate the massive undertaking that Ryan Bodenheim brings to the table in both his character illustrations and his immersive landscapes and scenery.

So, why is this the best comic book I've read today? Because it made me feel small. Not just small, but like really, really tiny. Hickman takes the girth of the entire human history and culture and compresses it down to 60 pages. And you can feel that in every page. In partnership with Bodenheim, Hickman's story brings something to life that is rare in comic books these days: a depth of narrative through illustration that makes my hands and my brain ache just looking at it.

[caption id="attachment_1253" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Just look at that shit! WTF?!? Don't your fingers just hurt right now?![/caption]

 

There is great mystery afoot, much of which cannot yet be discerned, but this porthole into the story alludes to a great history dictated by a race that cannot be more succinctly described as anything other than "The Dead." Issue #1 opens with a powerful interpersonal story: a couple to be wed, and then their wedding, their honeymoon and shortly thereafter their death. It's intense, messy, and mostly unexplained, but it's quite clear that this is just pretense for something much greater and more sinister. Then, we meet the Colonel. His wife is dying and to save her, he takes a trip to the underworld. Greek and Roman mythology come to life in a fresh and unmatched imagery. Edward James Canning, our classic mythical hero analogue, journeys to the underworld for the same reason every hero has every gone to these treacherous depths. He wants to save a loved one from the grips of death, his wife who is dying of cancer. He is immediately offered a deal: do the dirty work of "the dead" because they can't do it themselves, and they will save his wife.

It's all very sympathetic. Seeing a man lose his wife gives you plenty of motivation to relate to this character, but that's not what drew me in. "The Dead" give James a deal to save his wife, but at the same time he is offered-- no compelled to take an out. But he doesn't. And that's when it gets fun. For all the heavy and maudlin ruminating over the nature of life and death that this comic offers, it still leaves that element of adventure hanging like a carrot on a stick at the end.

The Colonel wants to save his wife, no doubt, but he also wants to do the dirty work because he's good at it and he likes it. And so do we.

Cluster Review

Boom Studio's Cluster

I can’t really tell what exactly the draw is.  It may be the ever growing excitement for the newest Star Wars movie, or it could just be my lifelong love of all things sci fi, but whatever it is I have really been impressed with the amount of good sci fi stuff coming out lately.  One of the first things I reviewed on Nerdbinge was Salvagers, a sci fi book I found on Kickstarter, and since then I have done an Image title called Drifter.  These two books I have reviewed I gave enthusiastic thumbs up and sorry for the spoiler but Cluster won’t be any different.

Cluster is a Boom Studio book that is created and written by Ed Brisson, illustrated by Damian Couceiro, colored by Michael Garland, and has a bunch of other artists that worked on varies different covers and colors for the covers.  The art is nice and pleasing to look at, all of the characters are distinct and unique in their own way.  Even though the artists are different Cluster reminds me of another Boom Studios book called Black Market.  Overall the art is excellent and on par with the industries best.



 

Cluster starts off with a character named Samara Simmons getting arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence and public endangerment causing bodily harm.  I know, a mouthful, but better to know what she is facing that going in blind, besides it has to do with the plot as the next few panels insinuate that there was a passenger in the burning wreck behind her.  The entire opening scenario is done in three pages and only the last page has any of the dialog.  I like the way the book starts because it instantly creates empathy for Samara and draws the reader in with the events leaving us wanting us more.



After Samara is arrested she wakes up two years later from a cryogenic sleep in a ship that is about to dock on a prison planet where the prisoners are used as soldiers to fight against an alien population called Pagurani that want to colonize planet themselves.  The planet Midlothian and the prison Tranent is a fifteen year sentence, minimum, and the prisoners are fitted with a device that prevents them from escaping.  They call the device a punch and it basically equates to a twenty four hour pass off the prison compound but after the twenty four hours is up the punch releases something like acid that eats away at the prisoners insides.  Brisson sets up the exposition and explains what he needs to explain through a believable set up that helps to move along the story well.  Within the first ten to twelve pages we have been introduced, at least briefly, to most or all of the main characters and have the jist of the story arc explained without it being blatant exposition.  As a writer I feel like hiding the exposition is actually one of the hardest things to do while build a world and I think this goes double for extensive sci fi worlds.  Sometimes sci fi worlds can get vast really quick leaving the reader dumbfounded or overwhelmed, but Brisson avoids this scenario very well.

After the general introduction of the scenario Brisson lightens up a little and introduces some of the other prisoners that will be accompanying Samara on her first mission.  The prisoners are a rag tag bunch and all of them have a strange, quirky, or funny vibe to their personalities, but of course they all fit well together.  Not that the exchange they share would support that fact but Brisson makes it work.  They all start to argue and fight causing the guards to have to break up the fight which sets up the next part of the story.



The fight lands all of the prisoners involved on the first fighter ship out to search for Pagurani and of course the first trip out wouldn't be memorable without some action.  The fighter ship carrying all of the main protagonists gets shot down and blown up leaving everyone stranded.  Brisson leaves us with the crew stranded and wounded with only twenty three hours to get back to Tranent before the punch goes off and ruin’s their day.  I like the hook for issue two because it actually leaves off at a reasonable spot in the story.  We get a great introduction to the world and the protagonists but it leaves us wanting more, like a good story should.

I make no apologies for my sci fi bias but I have to give this book its due respect.  It’s well written and illustrated, and it gets the job done without bombarding the reader with intricate details of a world that isn't really well defined.  I can’t wait to see what happens to the group on their journey back and I’m interested in the plight of the people on planet Midlothian as well as the Pagurani.  Brisson lets us know what we need to know and does it slyly enough by weaving it into the story itself.  I have read many books in my life time and the true test is summed up in a question, “Will I buy issue two?”  And for Cluster I have to say that the answer to that question is a resounding “YES!”

Imaginary Drugs

[caption id="attachment_1233" align="alignleft" width="200"] Imaginary Drugs
IDW, 2015[/caption]

 Imaginary Drugs

 Paperback: 208 pages

 Publisher: IDW Publishing (January 21,  2015)

 Cover Price: $24.99

 Disclosure: This reviewer knows  Imaginary Drugs editor and writer  Michael McDermott through Facebook.  He also pledged the Imaginary Drugs  Kickstarter campaign.

In 1984, Eclipse Comics published three issues of the cult anthology Strange Days, which featured the post-apocalyptic feature Freakwave, future detective Johnny Nemo, and the hapless superhero Paradax. The worlds of these stories were jagged, rough: sex, harsh words, no happy endings. I hated them. I hated them all. I was a thirteen year-old who wanted She-Hulk in a prom dress, not punk rock.

Across America, in New Jersey, another boy read Strange Days. He loved it. Thirty-one years later, Imaginary Drugs is his return to those stories which intoxicated him. As a reader, you can enjoy Imaginary Drugs without the knowledge of its long germination, but if you've read Strange Days or eighties Heavy Metal,  Imaginary Drugs has a deeper resonance.

Imaginary Drugs is an anthology of thirty-six illustrated stories written by McDermott and a cohort of fellow writers. These stories are all moored in the futuristic or fantastic. Many of McDermott's stories are tantalizing first chapters to serials, a nod to his influences. Others by his collaborators are staccato bursts of narrative, joined with no transition or title page, energy from one bleeding to the next.

The book opens with Saint in the City, a handsomely-told story of urban magic by McDermott, artist Brandon Sawyer, and colorist K. Michael Russell.  Star Captain Apollo, by illustrator Brandon Sawyer and writer Nic Shaw, is about child-like aliens who understand stories only as literal truth. When their spaceship crashes and they're enslaved in a labor camp, a prisoner who resembles fictional hero Star Captain Apollo is the only one who can rescue them. Cryptobiosis, by writer Jeff McClelland and illustrator Larsen, is also a story of innocence, but no star captain saves the day. Little Red by writer Nic Shaw and illustrator Louis Joyce is a fun homage to Japanese revenge comics and movies.

Arranging stories in an anthology is an art, like making mix tapes in the 1980s, or creating playlists on YouTube now. There's a flow of emotion and meaning, a subtext to the stories the editor strings together. In comics, visual narratives should meld, or pleasingly contrast across stories. Call it editorial vision. A good anthology is greater than the sum of its parts. I sensed that fullness when finishing Dr. Warhola’s 3VOLUT//ON, a meta-commentary on imagination and storytelling by writer Eric Esquivel and illustrator Tony Gregori.

Imaginary Drugs is a revival, a contemporary return to the raw, charged science fiction stories imported from Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s. I gave up on She-Hulk in a prom dress in 1990, so...is there room on that star-cycle for me, too?

The Best Comic I Read Today Is . . . Star Wars #1

I'm a lapsed fan.  Having grown-up in the 1980's, Star Wars was my religion.  I tried using the force to move glasses of water around my dining room table (once I swear it actually worked . . . a little), had ALL the toys ever created, and insisted on being Han Solo whenever we played anything outside.  Even baseball.

But it all went away shortly after Return of the Jedi and, though the prequel movies did recapture some of my belief in that old Lucas magic, I found my lack of faith disturbing.

Today, Star Wars #1 by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday arrived at comic book stores, and so did that excitement!



This book has everything a Star Wars fan could want - from an opening "credits" scene through the first panels reminiscent of how every film has opened, I almost expected to hear the 20th Century Fox music as I opened the cover, especially that little ending portion that always meant that Star Wars was coming on!

Taking place between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars #1 has all the familiar characters you'd want to see in the re-launch of a comic book franchise.  What makes this especially entertaining is that the reader knows how the story ultimately plays out, assuming that you've seen Empire and Jedi, and , let's face it, in my 39 years I have met one, ONE, person who hasn't seen them.  You'd think that knowing the outcome for all the characters would lessen the drama, but that is far from the case.  Jason Aaron and John Cassaday deftly handle the story, and it is clearly being created by fans of "a galaxy far, far away".  These are creators who, like so many of us, grew up LOVING these characters and are now being given the chance to reinvigorate them, starting over with a clean "canon" upon which to build.

These are exciting time to be a Star Wars fan, even a lapsed one.

"A long time ago" there was a nine year old boy standing in the rain at the end of a line that wrapped around the Seaview Square Cinema twice.  Waiting with him was his father, and they were both laughing and having a great time.  The boy was excited to see Return of the Jedi. 

His Dad was excited to see the boy smile.

Wytches--Issue #2--Review

 

A busload of children disappears in the woods. A strange bite grows on a girl's neck. And the wytches are getting closer, creeping from the woods. Be there for the terrifying second chapter of the new smash hit, WYTCHES.

From Comixology.com.

Oh wow, guys. I wanted to try something a little different today, so I waited to read issue #2 until this morning. This way you can get my initial, unedited thoughts. I might just sound a little bit all over the place, but such is the risk.

First of all, issue #2 is even more mind-blowing than issue #1. And the ending? Ah! I'm still trying to recover.

Chills. So many chills.

The art is still so tantalizingly chaotic and gorgeous. The writing still pushes you to try to figure out just what is going on, never feeling like you really know.

And the wytches. They finally make their full appearance. And they are terrifying.

I love how Scott Snyder and Jock are working together to really unnerve the reader. There are whole pages of just illustration, with one little bit of dialogue at the end. It works like a punch in the face. It's brilliant. And I love how Jock weaves his art on the page. He forces you, through color and effects, to stay and look and try to find the hidden nuggets. To see the eyes in the woods staring back at you.

Brilliant. I'm just going to use that word over and over again.

If you haven't picked up Wytches yet, I strongly suggest you do. There are three issues out so far, so you can go immediately from one to the other. And, hopefully, we won't have to wait too much longer for issue #4.

Enjoy!

The Best Comic I Read Today Is . . . Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier #3

If you haven't been reading Ales Kot and Marco Rudy's Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier for fear that it would be a one-dimensional ex-KGB spy thing, then you belong in a gulag.  This book is anything but.  Picking-up where old school Nick Fury left off in Original Sin, Bucky Barnes is now "The Man on the Wall", protecting Earth from all threats both cosmic and otherworldly.

And this creates the backdrop for one of the more thoughtful books being created right now.



There are three reasons this is such a good read:

1 - The fully painted art of Marco Rudy is beyond breathtaking and sets the cosmic mood and tone that a book that features a drug dealing Loki from the future demands.  The eye is guided through each panel, page and splash with a fluidity missing from most mainstream comics.  For this issue, Michael Walsh, Kot's accomplice on Secret Avengers, added a 4 page "cameo" to shift the perception of both some characters and all readers.

2 - While I'd read this book for the art alone, it's Ales Kot's scripts that have me coming back each month.  There is a mystery here, a story behind the story that he is revealing piecemeal, and a characterization of Bucky that I haven't seen before.  This book is taking Bucky beyond his tortured former assassin past and hurling him into new psychological territory, a difficult thing to do with a character that has been around since the 1940's.

3 - Finally, Wikipedia.  This is a book that you should read with a browser open so you can cross reference all the names and "inside" jokes.  Look at the cover - "Ventolin" and "Xtal" are both songs by Aphex Twin.  The planet Bucky is heading toward is "Mer-Z-Bow", named after the Japanese noise musician, and "The Great Reznor" should be pretty obvious.  Half the fun of reading this book is looking for clues based on the source material for whatever Kot decides to call the next alien race or MacGuffin.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier is a fun, beautiful book that banishes clichés to Siberia.

- Aloha -

Wytches --Issue One -- Review

I don't try to make it a big secret that I'm absolutely in love with two art mediums meshing together to make something brilliant. It's probably why I'm obsessed with comics and rock music; one artist--the writer--meeting up with another--the illustrator (or musician)--to bring something to life that wouldn't have been quite the same without the both of them working together. Writing is great. But writing with images? Even better! Poetry is beautiful. But poetry with instrumentals? Brilliant!

And though I love all forms of comics and graphic novels, the ones that really get me salivating are ones that push boundaries. Or maybe I just feel they push boundaries more because they speak to something in my soul. They don't have your perfect lines or flowing sentences. They're visceral and emotional. Through art, they communicate something so much more than what's on the surface of the paper.

When I heard about Wytches, by Scott Snyder and JOCK,  I knew it was something I needed to read.



 

And when I saw that subdued cover with just a hint of bright red, the shadow playing against the trees, I fell in love.

The story opens with four panels in pure chaos. The perfect lines are nowhere to be seen. There are splotches of color against a subdued black and blue background. And then we see this distorted face amidst the chaos and the only dialogue on the whole page is, "...Please...Please help me!"

It's powerful, and honestly scary.

The next page only adds to the creepiness. The face, we see on closer inspection, is being swallowed by a tree. The splotches of color are blood. And then there's this little boy who does the last thing you'd ever expect. It was honestly one of the most disturbing openings to a comic I've ever seen.

The rest of the story continues with its chaotic theme. We're slowly introduced to backstory, jumping around from scene to scene, never quite comfortable. Never quite understanding everything that's going on until the last page.

Wytches is definitely a brilliant example of multiple artists coming together to make something brilliant. The words and the art work perfectly together to disarm you. You won't be able to put this one down.

The Magdalena The Seventh Sacrament Review

The Magdalena The Seventh Sacrament a Religious Story in Time for Christmas

I’ve never been an overly religious guy, I did spend a few years in a Christian school, and for a lack of a tackier term I’m more spiritual than religious.  With that disclosure I have to say that Christian dogma and history intrigues me.  Angels and demons, saints and sinners, Christian dogma, particularly Catholic dogma, is rich with some amazing characters and stories.  Everyone knows Pope Francis but not everyone knows that the original Saint Francis of Assisi was a pretty cool guy too.  Saint Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment and founded a bunch of different Catholic orders.  He was more than good guy, he was a saint!  Any writer worth his/her salt knows a good base for a story arc when they see it and the Writer of The Magdalena The Seventh Sacrament, Tini Howard, was smart enough see some potential in Catholicism.

The Magdalena The Seventh Sacrament is written by Tini Howard, artwork by Aileen Oracion, color by Ross Campbell, letters by Troy Peteri, cover art by ROM Darkness Et Folly, and edited by Betsy Gonia.  I truly admire artists; I can’t even draw stick figures, and I really covet their skills.  This artistic team has put together a brilliantly colorful and artistic book, with deep rich colors and an almost pastel or oil painting feel to it.  Take any criticism and/or observation about art that I offer with a grain of salt, because like I said, I’m no artist and I’m also color blind.  I do however know what I like and can see some good art for what it is despite my handicaps. One of the things I look for in comic book art is the portrayal of emotion through facial expressions and other non-verbal cues and this book does a great job with that.  The main character in the beginning, Detective Pezzini, expresses her demeanor and confidence through facial expressions and within the first two pages I was hooked.



Even though I was drawn into the book in the first few pages the story doesn’t follow Detective Pezzini, it actually flashes back when she shows her discovery of old Catholic texts to an Archbishop from New York named Cardinal Everett Ramos.  The texts and the story that follows is centered on a nun named Agatha during the Crusades.  Agatha is with a party that is attempting to obtain a relic for the Catholic Church.

As Agatha’s party reaches the castle and feast with the king everything seems to be going as planned, but of course that would be a great time to introduce the bad guys.  The bad guys in this case happen to be ugly, pointy eared, troll faced demons.  The demons attack the town and the castle looking for the relic that happens to be fairly secure.  Agatha is prompted by the priest she was traveling with to find the relic and guard it, but Agatha is so BA that she not only finds the relic but she saves the young prince as well.



Agatha is very close to God and her near saint hood is expressed through an exchange with a tired and hungry prince and her attempt to find food for him.  She allows him to rest and goes off to find some food, while her searching comes up empty she prays for help from God and he delivers a pair of nearly every edible animal in the forest.  I like this part of the story because it shows exactly how godly and caring Agatha is and how she not only deserves the help of God but is close to him in her actions of kindness.

Agatha continues with her journey, even after losing the prince to the cold, and stumbles upon a monastery run by typically pompous and arrogant monks.  As she seeks asylum and a warm place to rest the demons follow her and take advantage of the greedy arrogant monks and pay their way into the monastery.  The demons attack after nightfall and are in search of the Spear of Christ that Agatha carries with her.  The fight between Agatha and the demons is pretty epic as Agatha prays during the fight and becomes more and more BA with every word of prayer.  She turns into a true warrior of God, armor and all, and banishes the demons back to hell saving the day for the jerk Monks.



As the battle comes to an end the story flashes back to Detective Pezzini and Cardinal Everett discussing the ramifications of that day and they talk over panels of what happened.  In the end the Cardinal is impressed and the Detective is happy to give the texts over to him.  I like the ending but I really wish this book was more than a one shot.  I think there is room on peoples shelves for stories like this and I would buy issue two if they made one.

I can’t hide my bias for Catholic dogma and stories, they’re too good and too rich with history, so I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Not only did this book entertain but it came out just in time for the Christmas season, an excellent marketing strategy if you ask me.  I would definitely recommend this book, not just to Christians, but to anyone.

The Best Comic I Read Today Is . . . Batman and Robin #37

This week saw two new Grant Morrison comics come out, along with the main Batman comic and Zero by Ales Kot, all among my favorite monthly releases.  Still, Batman and Robin #37 was the best comic I read today, and for one reason:

Fun.



This is the penultimate chapter in the Robin Rises storyline and the issue that sees Robin return from the dead.  No “Spoiler Alert” needed as writer Peter Tomasi already divulged what would happen when he Tweeted a picture of Damian Wayne a week or so ago.  Couple that with the title of the arc, Robin Rises, and you have a pretty good idea of where the story is going.

What made this issue so enjoyable was the flat-out action.  I mean, Batman takes on Darkseid, and wins – again - in a thirteen page fight scene that is nothing short of epic!  The art of Patrick Gleason, Mick Gray and John Kalisz is as dynamic as I have ever seen it in this New 52 book that I feel deserves much more recognition than it gets.

The reason Batman and Robin flies under the radar is due to its simplicity.  This is a story about a father looking for redemption and finding it.  There is no prolonged exposition in this book, and Tomasi and Gleason manage to boil it all down to a single image at the end of the issue of father and son, Batman and Robin, hugging.

The next panel encapsulates the entire Robin Rises arc into five words when Batgirl leans into Alfred and says:

“. . . omigod . . . he really did it . . .”.

And Tomasi and Gleason really did – they created a comic book about a dead kid coming back to life that was action packed and yes . . .

Fun.



Oh – and Robin has super powers now.

- Aloha -

 

Drifter from Image Comics Review

A Sci-Fi Tale from Image Comics: Drifter

When talking about comic books the phrase “The big two” comes up a lot, and for good reason, there iconic labels, but if truth be told the phrase should be “The big three.”  Since its inception in 1992 by famed illustrator Todd McFarlane, and an army of upset illustrators, Image Comics has redefined what the comic industry is capable of.  Image was an instant success and has helped to develop amazing artists and artist owned property.  Drifter is just one of their new titles that have made a splash.

Drifter is scripted by Ivan Brandon, and edited by Sebastian Girner.  The artwork is done by Nic Klein, lettering by Clem Robins, and the logo and design by Tom Muller.  The cover is a portrait of a man, the main character Abram Pollux, with Drifter spelled out in dots underneath him.  The cover art is vastly different from the comic art; the cover is a very realistic looking portrait style close up of Abram’s face while the inside is more of a normal comic feel.  The art of the cover as well as the inside is top notch and on par with any expectations, the characters are lively and telling in every essential way.



The book starts off with Abram Pollux falling out of space and crash landing on a planet only to nearly drown.  He ends up crawling out of the water and accidentally killing an alien that attempts to help him.  The alien wasn’t alone and its companion rushes to the aid of its dying friend, and Pollux watches it die in its friends arms.  I feel like this sets up the ideas of the book perfectly, a drifter that has personal issues and questionable morals.

After Pollux kills the alien he is shot by a mysterious character in a suit that reminds me a little bit of Star Lord, a gas mask and goggles design with a cape.  At this point I assume that the main character won’t get killed off in the first couple of pages but the events have already drawn me into the story and the character.

[caption id="attachment_1177" align="alignnone" width="195"] Pollux getting shot[/caption]

The story picks up with Pollux in a hospital setting and introduces a jack of all trades sheriff and doctor named Lee.  Lee is talking to a man named Jonah about what seems to be some serious stuff when Pollux wakes up.  Lee and Pollux have an exchange that stresses the desperation on the planet.  There exchange and the tone of desperation sets up the world Pollux has crash landed on well and it fits with the ideas already presented.  Pollux puts the feel of the book perfectly when he says, “Been half-drowned and burnt up, crashed and then shot in this place.”  It seems like a desert, empty, desolate place that struggles to stay alive, just like Pollux.

So far Pollux has had nothing but bad experiences with the planet and the people/aliens on it, save Lee, but the book transitions flawless from the world setup to Pollux leaving the little town and searching for his wrecked ship.  Lee is clearly intrigued by Pollux and curious about what he is leaving for and follows him.  Pollux and Lee talk as they search for the wreckage of Pollux’s ship.  Lee wonders where Pollux came from and what he hoped to find in the deserts of the planet but during his explanation of where he came from Lee sees that things don’t match up.  Pollux explains where he came from and when his ship went down but Lee seems surprised by his answers.  They end the book with Pollux and Lee standing on a ridge overlooking the wreckage while Lee tells Pollux that wreck happened over a year ago.  I understand the need for a hook when dealing with an ongoing series and Drifter leaves it open with a serious cliffhanger.

[caption id="attachment_1175" align="alignnone" width="343"] The Town[/caption]

I liked the world that they set up, the desperation and desperado feel of a Wild West type planet, and the intriguing characters that are somewhat mysterious and dark.  The world is nice but the character development is even better, I feel invested in Lee with her reluctant heroism and sympathetic of Pollux and his misfortune.  I also have a soft spot for Sci-Fi as you may have noticed with my review of Salvagers and eternal love of Star Wars and Star Trek.  Sci-Fi is a genre of literally never ending possibility for characters and worlds and it seems to me the team behind Drifter have a vast world in store and I will be tuning in for issue two to find out if that is true.

The Best Comic I Read Today Is . . . Bitch Planet #1

When I was in college, I was one class short of earning a minor in Women’s Studies.  It was the early ‘90’s, and diversity was the buzzword on my campus.  Courses like Feminist Theory, Psychology of Women and Women Writers had waiting lists for admission.  Bitch Planet would have been required reading in all three.



Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro convert, subvert and invert the usual comic book construct, which adds to the subtext of what this book is doing to social paradigms.  Bitch Planet #1 opens on Earth, and a woman running late for an appointment.  The panel composition takes us from the perceived freedom of the outside (though based on the billboards and signage around there is no real freedom on this Earth), to the confines of a recording studio by utilizing a variation of the 4 x 3 panel grid, the outside retreating until, in the last row, there is one outdoor panel and three indoor panels, tracking the woman’s arrival.  She then goes on to record a subliminal creation myth designed for the Non-Compliant, women sent to an off-world penal colony (pun intended), to hear while they sleep in suspended animation.

We are then introduced to Marian Collins and her husband, who is seemingly attempting to gain her release from “Bitch Planet”.  There’s a fantastic page, again, a 4 x 3 grid, where Marian and her husband explain why they want freedom, each from their own separate physical prison, though Mr. Collins is in a prison of infidelity as he admits to having an affair with Dawn, a younger woman.

Marian goes through the rest of the book as the protagonist, until the reveal at the end where the entire story is flipped upside down.  Marian, a fairly typical white woman with whom the reader has spent the entire issue attempting to relate, is killed, and the real protagonist, Kamau Kogo, takes center stage.



Kamau has an afro.

Kamau knows how to kick all sorts of ass.

Kamau is not your typical protagonist.

Kamau is someone I need to read more about.

Bitch Planet isn’t just a tremendous first issue.  Bitch Planet is a call to arms for anyone creating comics today.

As Christopher Sebela announced last night on Twitter – “Bitch Planet #1 is a giant mic dropping on all our heads.”

- Aloha -

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. What They Become Review (Spoilers)

What They Become Delivers Big Time

OK, as always, spoilers ahead. This week SUPER MAJOR SPOILERS. So turn back now if you haven't watched yet.



 

Wow, what an episode. I was genuinely excited for the entirety of this episode. I really didn't want the show to end, and that's a first for me and Agents of SHIELD.  This episode really delivered everything that both fans of the TV show and comic fans have wanted out of Agents of SHIELD.  Tonight's episode was pretty much all about Skye, or as we finally learned, "Daisy." I have to give credit to the Internet theorist for nailing it on the mystery behind Skye's origin. I have read theories for a couple of month's now that Skye was actually Daisy Johnson and that her father was Dr. Hyde. While some of these characters' back-stories have been ret-conned for the TV show, the theories are otherwise spot-on.  It was confirmed on tonight's episode that Skye is actually Daisy Johnson, aka Quake, an Agent of SHIELD from the comics who was trained by Nick Fury and also possesses "seismic powers." We also learned that "The Doctor" was in fact Dr. Cal Zabo aka Dr. Hyde. On top of that, the Obelisk was finally confirmed to be a part of the Inhumans lore when it opened to reveal a terrigen crystal which immediately blasted Skye, Raina, and Trip with terrigen mist. (Sad face, more on that later).



I'm going to stick with the same format for this review that I used last week and opt not to recap the whole episode.

The Good

The good stuff this week? How about everything! Truly, this was one of the best episodes to date because the show runners finally and truly capitalized on all the potential for this show. Lots of people love to hate this show, but I don't think people often put two and two together that Agents of SHIELD is based in the same universe as the MCU. To be honest, it's easy to forget. The scope of Marvel's TV landscape is not nearly as grand as the movies, but in the end, "it's all connected" as they love to remind us. For once, this week, this show really felt like an exciting part of the MCU. We are seeing the first inkling of the Inhuman lore sneaking into the MCU as a whole, and it didn't come from a teaser in an after credits scene on Age of Ultron. It happened on a Tuesday night in your living room. This kind of stuff is why Agents of SHIELD has so much potential. If they keep connecting the dots like this for the rest of season 2, it's going to be a hell of a season. On another note, tonight's episode really came through for the hardcore comic book fans. Seeing Quake and Dr. Hyde come to life in the show is what comic book fans live for and it's those same comic book fans who were able to puzzle out this season's mysteries before anyone else. I love this because it's like the show is written to literally reward dedicated comic book fans yet it doesn't isolate casual fans from the show. In other good news, we got to see some badass gun play from Coulson taking out Whitehill (less badass, more so just glad to see him dead) and Skye blasting Ward without a moment's hesitation (really badass).  One other highlight was Kyle MacLachlan's performance as the emotionally ravaged father of Skye. The show has tried to teach us to hate him, but once he told the story of losing his wife and daughter, it was really heartbreaking. MacLachlan truly killed it with a disturbing blend of psychosis, misery, and despair coming through the character.

The Bad

Not much this week that I can really complain about as far as the execution of this episode goes. The cast felt a bit lop-sided tonight with most of the Agents left on the sideline to Skye's story. Also, the bit about the hazmat suits and the bombs in the temple felt pretty pointless once it was all said and done.  In fact, this was all just confusing sometimes. Why did Mac get possessed in the temples but no one else did? What was the point of the hazmat suits when Fitz, Simmons, and Trip first went down to the tunnels? That can be forgiven considering that 95% of this episode was so good. The worst part of tonight's episode was the loss of Agent Triplett. They did a great job setting us up for a punch to the gut, first making us wonder if Mac was going to be alive. Then they let him go only to swipe Trip from us at the last second. It was super sad to see him crumble in the last scenes of the episode. At the same time, I don't see why it was necessary to kill him. It was truly a testament to the character of Triplett that after running toward four ticking time bombs and living, he stills dives in head first to save his friend Skye. One thing I feel completely justified in complaining about is the winter break before we get to see all this play out more. I can't wait to see more of super-powered Skye and all the Inhumans to come!

The Be All, End All

I can finally say unequivocally that I ams SOLD on Agents of SHIELD. It's sad to say it took a season and a half to reach that status, but they are truly there now. Taking a lesson from the Captain America: The Winter Solider crossover and keeping the bigger MCU within view more and more, Agents of SHIELD has finally become an essential piece of the puzzle. Before, you could simply have said that Agents was auxiliary to the overall story of the MCU, but now Agents is actually taking the lead on storytelling. With three years to go before the Inhumans come to the silver screen, Agents has a ton of time to play with and develop all the madness that comes with baby Inhumans running around the Earth. It's going to be a ton of fun and a welcome breath of fresh air for the often times stuffy show. Sure, there are just as many chances for Agents to mess up the Inhumans, but if Marvel has proven anything this year it's that when they take risks, they pay off big time.

Writer Blocks - The Manhattan Projects

It was 2012 and I was at the New York Comic Con.  The first anthology work I had ever submitted had just been published and I had successfully pitched on a work-for-hire gig that would be picked-up by Hound Comics.  To make the long weekend even better, Grant Morrison, the man whose work got me back into reading and writing comics after too long of an absence, was going to be on numerous panels, the best of which was a writer’s panel with Brian K Vaughan and some guy named Jonathan Hickman.

While Vaughan was an excellent speaker and listening to Morrison discuss story and craft was like having a brief audience with an Earthbound God, it was what Jonathan Hickman had to say that really stuck with me.  He and I had some similarities:  we were both in our late 30’s, married, two kids, and stuck in a career we were slowly growing to hate and felt like we were wasting away any talent we may have to contribute to the world.  And six years earlier, this guy had followed his dream.  He had been nominated for a few Eisner Awards and was re-launching the flagship of the Marvel Universe – The Avengers!  Naturally, on the train ride home I read my just-purchased copy of The Manhattan Projects #1, and from that moment Jonathan Hickman became a writer I follow, admire, and constantly learn from.



The Manhattan Projects is historical fiction, and historical fiction usually comes in two varieties: a fictionalized account of what happened behind the scenes of a world event, keeping that event and its ramifications intact, or an alternate history tale, with a historical event going in a different direction and throwing the world into chaos.  What Hickman and collaborator Nick Pitarra have done in The Manhattan Projects is blend both of these plot devices, creating a world of science populated by known geniuses like Einstein, Oppenheimer and Feynman along with Yuri Gagarin, William Westmoreland, JFK, LBJ, and FDR, among others.  This creates a fun house mirror effect where what we’re reading in the book is a distorted version of famous events throughout history.



The hallmark of a Jonathan Hickman comic is the intricate plot, and while The Manhattan Projects has a lot of humor, and does operate within the confines of historical context, there are plenty of plot twists, set-ups, reveals, seeds, Easter eggs, whatever term you want to use.  The story unfolds slowly, building in complexity through issue #25, which ends the first major movement of the work. The second part begins in March of 2015 and Hickman has promised a few changes.  Instead of the sprawling ensemble cast we’ll get to see more personal narratives about a few characters at a time.  Change is good, but I hope he leaves the Dune-inspired quotes from the mythical book Clavis Aurea: The Recorded Feynman that lend so much subtext to what is happening in the issue. 

Hickman’s work has been criticized as “text bookish”, and I can see why, but that’s what I love about this book in particular.  I don’t want my fiction spoon fed to me when I read or when I write, and I don’t mind looking-up references to political leaders or event dates or even historical footage to gain a deeper understanding of what Hickman and Pitarra are doing in The Manhattan Projects.

That’s the type of work I want to create.

If only Jonathan Hickman hadn’t had the courage to take a leap of faith and chase his dreams first.

- Aloha -